This year's annual Faculty Convocation is on the morning of Thursday, August 21, 2008. This special event is designed to welcome all returning and new faculty to campus and to offer you updates on major developments at Otis over the summer.
A continental breakfast will be served beginning at 8:45am in the Galef Lobby. This early morning time will provide everyone with an opportunity to catch up with your colleagues and meet some of our new faculty. As a special additional service to faculty this year, the Human Resources team has arranged for representatives from ACI (our Employee Assistance Program provider), the University Credit Union, and Fidelity Investments to be available to answer your questions and provide information during the pre-Convocation coffee time, and again during our lunch following the Convocation.
At 9:30AM, President Hoi and I will offer just a few words about the major developments at Otis and answer any questions you may have. Then we will begin our convocation program, which features a special presentation by Neal Howe, co-author of the widely read and respected book, Millennials Go to College. Howe and his late collaborator William Strauss have done fascinating research on the nature and unique characteristics of our current “millennial” generation students, and this research holds important insights into how we teach successfully to these students.
Following Neal Howe’s presentation, we will hear from three 2-persons teams, comprised of our distinguished Otis colleagues, each of whom has developed specific strategies to work effectively with Otis’ millennial students. Each 2-member team will speak for about 20 minutes, so this will be a fast-paced hour focused on the latest research and best practices.
The Convocation will conclude with lunch for all participants, which will be served from 12:15 to 1:15pm in the Galef Lobby and surrounding outdoor areas. Many departments will follow this lunch with individual department meetings from approximately 1:30 to 2:45pm. Beginning at 3pm, all new faculty are invited to attend the required New Faculty Orientation, which will be held in the Otis Forum. New faculty members will receive additional information regarding the New Faculty Orientation via US mail.
Also throughout the week preceding Convocation (August 11-15) and Convocation week (August 18-22), the Teaching and Learning Center will again be offering a series of free faculty workshops on a wide variety of topics. A list of the available TLC workshops is enclosed with this letter. For further details on these workshops contact Kathleen Forrest at: 310-846-2576 or by email at: kforrest@otis.edu.
Please RSVP to the Office of the Provost to let us know whether or not you plan to attend. You may call April Kullis at: (310) 665-6988 or email her at: akullis@otis.edu.
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